About Us

LOCAL 493

Local 493 seeks to provide professional representation for technicians in Missouri. We will pursue and obtain contracts which provide for employer-paid health insurance and retirement while providing on-set safety guidelines and professional working conditions. In addition, the Local will serve as a conduit for its members through meetings, newsletters and seminars. IATSE 493 will work closely with interested groups or individuals that are working to promote and market film and video production here. The synergy created from this collaboration will greatly influence the amount of professional productions that come to Missouri.

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THE INTERNATIONAL

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada was founded in 1893 when representatives of stagehands working in eleven cities met in New York and pledged to support each other's efforts to establish fair wages and working conditions for their members. The IATSE has evolved since then to embrace the development of new entertainment mediums, craft expansion, technological innovation and geographic growth.

 

Today, IATSE members work in all forms of live theater, motion picture and television production, trade shows and exhibitions, television broadcasting, and concerts as well as the equipment and construction shops that support all these areas of the entertainment industry. The IA represents virtually all the behind the scenes workers in crafts ranging from motion picture animator to theater usher.

 

During a period when private sector union membership has been in sharp decline the IATSE has continued to grow. Since 1993 the IA's membership has increased from 74,344 to nearly 122,000 which it attributes to its willingness to adapt its structure to protect traditional jurisdiction and accommodate new crafts.